Movies like Ballad of a Small Player (2025)
The best movies like Ballad of a Small Player (2025) are Rounders (1998), The Grifters (1990) and Hard Eight (1997). If Ballad of a Small Player hooked you with its crime and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCasino (1995)8.0/10 from 6,874 votes
- NewestThe Card Counter (2021)Released 2021
Rounders (1998)
Poker addict Mike McDermott knows the game inside out, but loses his money one night in a game to Russian-American gangster Teddy KGB. Promising his partner Jo he'll give up, he meets up with best friend Lester 'Worm' Murphy, just out of prison and owing lots of money to the wrong kind of people. McDermott becomes his co-guarantor and now there's only one way to raise the money, the pair have to get back into the game.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Grifters (1990)
A small-time conman has his loyalties torn between his estranged mother and his new girlfriend, both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHard Eight (1997)
A stranger mentors a young Reno gambler who weds a hooker and befriends a vulgar casino regular.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Drop (2014)
Bob Saginowski finds himself at the center of a robbery gone awry and entwined in an investigation that digs deep into the neighborhood's past where friends, families, and foes all work together to make a living - no matter the cost.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Card Counter (2021)
William Tell just wants to play cards. His spartan existence on the casino trail is shattered when he is approached by Cirk, a vulnerable and angry young man seeking help to execute his plan for revenge on a military colonel. Tell sees a chance at redemption through his relationship with Cirk.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUncut Gems (2019)
A charismatic New York City jeweler always on the lookout for the next big score makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime. Howard must perform a precarious high-wire act, balancing business, family, and encroaching adversaries on all sides in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMississippi Grind (2015)
Gerry is a talented but down-on-his-luck gambler whose fortunes begin to change when he meets Curtis, a younger, highly charismatic poker player. The two strike up an immediate friendship and Gerry quickly persuades his new friend to accompany him on a road trip to a legendary high stakes poker game in New Orleans. As they make their way down the Mississippi River, Gerry and Curtis manage to find themselves in just about every bar, racetrack, casino, and pool hall they can find, experiencing both incredible highs and dispiriting lows, but ultimately forging a deep and genuine bond that will stay with them long after their adventure is over.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Place Beyond the Pines (2013)
A motorcycle stunt rider considers committing a crime in order to provide for his wife and child, an act that puts him on a collision course with a cop-turned-politician.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Cooler (2003)
Bernie works at a Las Vegas casino, where he uses his innate ability to bring about misfortune in those around him to jinx gamblers into losing. His imposing boss, Shelly Kaplow, is happy with the arrangement. But Bernie finds unexpected happiness when he begins dating attractive waitress Natalie Belisario.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Gambler (2014)
Literature professor Jim Bennett leads a secret life as a high-stakes gambler. Always a risk-taker, Bennett bets it all when he borrows from a gangster and offers his own life as collateral. Staying one step ahead, he pits his creditor against the operator of an illicit gambling ring while garnering the attention of Frank, a paternalistic loan shark. As his relationship with a student deepens, Bennett must risk everything for a second chance.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Color of Money (1986)
Former pool hustler "Fast Eddie" Felson decides he wants to return to the game by taking a pupil. He meets talented but green Vincent Lauria and proposes a partnership. As they tour pool halls, Eddie teaches Vincent the tricks of scamming, but he eventually grows frustrated with Vincent's showboat antics, leading to an argument and a falling-out. Eddie takes up playing again and soon crosses paths with Vincent as an opponent.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCasino (1995)
In Las Vegas, two best friends-a casino executive and a Mafia enforcer--compete for a gambling empire and a fast-living, fast-loving socialite.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisOwning Mahowny (2003)
Dan Mahowny was a rising star at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. At twenty-four he was assistant manager of a major branch in the heart of Toronto's financial district. To his colleagues he was a workaholic. To his customers, he was astute, decisive and helpful. To his friends, he was a quiet, but humorous man who enjoyed watching sports on television. To his girlfriend, he was shy but engaging. None of them knew the other side of Dan Mahowny--the side that executed the largest single-handed bank fraud in Canadian history, grossing over $10 million in eighteen months to feed his gambling obsession.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlow (2001)
The story of how George Jung, together with the Medellín Cartel led by Pablo Escobar, established the billion-dollar cocaine empire in the United States in the 1970s.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBefore the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)
When two brothers organize the robbery of their parents' jewelry store, the job goes horribly wrong, triggering a series of events that send them and their family hurtling towards a shattering climax.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMolly's Game (2017)
Molly Bloom, a young skier and former Olympic hopeful becomes a successful entrepreneur (and a target of an FBI investigation) when she establishes a high-stakes, international poker game.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTrainspotting (1996)
Heroin addict Mark Renton stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends --Sick Boy, Begbie, Spud and Tommy. He also has an underage girlfriend, Diane, along for the ride. After cleaning up and moving from Edinburgh to London, Mark finds he can't escape the life he left behind as Begbie and Sick Boy come knocking.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Opportunists (2000)
Vic is a struggling auto mechanic with a safe-cracking past and a lot of debt. His girlfriend runs a bar and offers to loan him the money she's saved for remodeling, but Vic is reluctant to take it. When a long-lost cousin from Ireland shows up on his doorstep, the two team up for one last heist.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
The Bag Man (2014)
A criminal waits in a seedy motel for his boss after killing several men to steal a bag.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like this21 (2008)
Ben Campbell is a young, highly intelligent student at M.I.T. who strives to succeed. Wanting a scholarship to transfer to Harvard School of Medicine to become a doctor, Ben learns that he cannot afford the $300,000 tuition as he comes from a poor, working-class background. But one evening, Ben is introduced by his unorthodox math professor to a small but secretive club of five students, Jill, Choi, Kianna, and Fisher, who are being trained by Professor Rosa to count cards at blackjack.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCold Deck (2015)
When a poker player hits rock bottom he enlists his best friend to pull off a high-stakes heist.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Killing Them Softly (2012)
Jackie Cogan is an enforcer hired to restore order after three dumb guys rob a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGood Time (2017)
After a botched bank robbery lands his younger brother in prison, Connie Nikas embarks on a twisted odyssey through New York City's underworld to get his brother Nick out of jail.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmerican Hustle (2013)
A conman and his seductive partner are forced to work for a wild FBI agent, who pushes them into a world of Jersey power-brokers and the Mafia.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPanic (2000)
Alex is going through a midlife crisis and it has become a very difficult time for him. His marriage is struggling, he's worried about his son, and his job of killing people for his family has become the most stressful part of his life. He seeks the help of a therapist and meets a woman in the waiting room that he connects with.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEven Money (2007)
Gambling addiction bring the stories of three otherwise unconnected people together as it destroys each of their lives.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSiberia (2018)
Lucas, a diamond trader who travels to Saint Petersburg to arrange a sale, discovers that his Russian business partner has left his hotel and gone to a small Siberian village, so Lucas also heads there to try find him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisDon't Come Knocking (2005)
Howard Spence has seen better days. Once a big Western movie star, he now drowns his disgust for his selfish and failed life with alcohol, drugs and young women. If he were to die now, nobody would shed a tear over him, that's the sad truth. Until one day Howard learns that he might have a child somewhere out there...
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSucker Punch (2008)
Ray 'Harley' Davidson is a hustler. With flash clothes and a fast mouth, Harley lives life in the fast lane. With his passion for all things gambling, money runs like water through Harley's hands and as quickly as he makes a killing he takes a beating, normally at the poker table. Nominally an illegal prize-fight manager, Harley hasn't produced a live one in months, until Charles Buchinsky literally wanders into his life. Charles Buchinsky, street fighter extraordinaire. He's from out of town looking for a fight and the chance to tie up a few loose ends. Keeps himself to himself, lets his fists do the talking and his word is his bond. Victor Maitland, top illegal fight promoter and porn baron. Hates losing and loves the prestige of managing the best hitter in town. Harley dreams of bringing Maitland down and after seeing Buchinsky at work, engineers a fragile partnership. The duo soon becomes a hot ticket...
Why it matches: Fans watch both
The Air I Breathe (2007)
A gambler’s bet spiraling into chaos, a gangster's prophetic visions, a pop star’s dark entanglement, a doctor’s desperate race against time to rescue his beloved... Four interconnected stories reveal life unfolding through four emotional pillars — joy, passion, grief, and love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Ballad of a Small Player and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Ballad of a Small Player?
The closest matches to Ballad of a Small Player are Rounders (1998), The Grifters (1990) and Hard Eight (1997). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Ballad of a Small Player?
People who watched Ballad of a Small Player most often go on to Rounders (1998), The Grifters (1990) and Hard Eight (1997).
What is the highest-rated movie like Ballad of a Small Player?
Casino (1995), rated 8.0/10 by 6,874 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Ballad of a Small Player?
The Card Counter (2021) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Ballad of a Small Player?
Yes: Rounders (1998), The Grifters (1990) and Hard Eight (1997).
How are movies similar to Ballad of a Small Player chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Ballad of a Small Player, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.